Gananoque pumping station delayed until late 2026

The Town of Gananoque’s East End Pumping Station upgrade project is now approximately 70 per cent complete, but is expected to be nearly a year behind schedule due to design issues, site conditions and construction delays.

Council received an update on the $8-million infrastructure project during its June 3 meeting.

The contract for the pumping station upgrade was awarded to Kingdom Construction Ltd. for $8.04 million, including HST, with more than $4 million in funding provided by the province through the Ontario Ministry of Infrastructure.

According to the staff report, the project encountered challenges early in construction, including design discrepancies and contractual issues between consultant J.L. Richards and the contractor.

Additional delays related to site shoring requirements, design errors and inaccurate records of existing site conditions further extended the timeline, the report adds.

Town staff negotiated three change orders with the contractor totalling nearly $990,000. The largest, valued at $500,000, relates to costs associated with delays and has yet to be paid.

Council approved an additional $1.37 million for the project in October 2025 to address unforeseen costs. After the negotiated change orders, approximately $377,000 remains in the approved surplus budget.

Despite the additional costs, staff reported the project is not currently operating at a deficit, although several outstanding items may still require further funding once final costs are known.

The pumping station is now expected to be commissioned in late fall 2026, roughly one year later than originally anticipated.

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.